Many Factors in Affirmative Action

* On a recent visit to Southern California to watch my 64-year-old father become an American citizen, I read with great interest the comments made in regard to my fellow UC students at UCI.

While I question the students and their hunger strike, I am amazed more at how little is known about affirmative action and all that it entails.

Contrary to popular belief, affirmative action is not a program that chooses a person based solely on race or gender.

At UC Berkeley, for instance, race and gender are but one part of the 10-point admissions process.

Many athletes (of all colors), for instance, are also considered affirmative action students.

Transfer students, re-entry students (both of which I am), students from rural areas, special circumstances, etc. are also listed under certain admissions policies.

In essence, when you toss aside all the rhetoric and arguments being thrown about, we all still had to qualify to be admitted into the University of California and that, in and of itself, is an affirmative action.

ANGELITA FIGUEROA SALAS

UC Berkeley